Am I a fan of the Fate/Zero franchise? Not really. I have some basic knowledge and I have to admit that I miss the finer details that could have made this series much more enjoyable. I even had to ask a few questions to some fans.

Nevertheless, the episode, contrary to most of the previous, had enough action to make up for the large cast of mostly decorative characters.

Japanese Title: 独りじゃない

Plot

Fan Warning: This review is full of ignorant comments made by an otaku that is way out of his preferred genres. If you want to correct my unawareness, you can do so in the comments. Be kind.

Shirou is cool. He blasts into the battle all Trace On and shit. Illya as slow as ever, mistakes Shirou for her own brother to only correct herself a few seconds later. Sometimes I think that Illya isn’t firing on all thrusters if you know what I mean. Shirou’s battle against Angelica though was one of the most enjoyable moments of the episode. The backing track was amazing and the animation, though not incredible, was good enough to keep up with the running action.

Kuro joins him and together they beat Angelica, forcing the Archer card to uninstall from her. During the battle, Kuro was able to learn a few new Archer tricks just by observing Shirou. Does that mean that Shirou has something to do with the Archer card?

Just when Shirou is ready to attack Julian, a strange big-breasted woman with a very revealing outfit emerges from the black mud and attacks him. I have no idea who that girl is and what kind of card she has. The only thing sure is that she is clearly a little cuckoo in the mind.

Miyu grabs the fallen Gilgamesh card and installs it. The card though still holds half of Gil’s personality and takes over Miyu. Gil arrives to take back half his self and at the same time realize what the Ainsworth plan is. I have no idea what his revelation was, but it must have something to do with calling Erica a ‘mud doll of calamity’.

The episode ends with Illya as Saber putting the Excalibur to good use.

Episode Highlights

Gilgamesh: Shirou and Gilgamesh were the protagonists of this episode. Ainsworth created their cards by removing the personality of the Heroic Spirit. But Gilgamesh was so strong that he managed to remain in the card while his kid half came to find him. Miyu was completely absorbed by his personality. That makes me question if Angelica was possessed as well.

Erica: Erica is not who we think she is. I have no idea who she really is, but I can take a wild guess that has nothing to do with my extensive knowledge on the franchise, something I don’t have. She mentions the Greek word ‘pithos’ which is a form of a large storage container. If the writers meant for that to be a clue, then Erica’s personality is someone from the Ancient Greek mythology. If for some reason she refers to that big black cube that looks like a Borg Cube from Star Trek, then the first thing that comes in mind is Pandora’s box. At least that’s where I put my two cents on.

Themes & Trivia

Pithos: Pithos is the Greek name of a large storage container that has nothing to do with a box. The term in English is applied to such containers used among the civilizations that bordered the Mediterranean Sea in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the succeeding Iron Age. I guess that the writers thought that the name sounded cool and it was the closest thing to ‘Greek’ and ‘box’ they could find.

Comments

The episode was full of some pretty epic moments. From Shirou’s first Trace On to Illya’s Excalibur fight stance, the characters set the stage for the final battle. The music managed to keep the pace of the action, the characters were not as annoying as in other episodes, and the only thing that kept me a little off balance was that purple crazy lady and the secondary characters.

And the rating is…

4/6

I loved the action and in general I had fun with this episode. The inclusion of too many characters and too much name-shouting usually tires me, but the sword-clashing kept me watching until the end.

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Thanasis is a writer, editor, and professional geek. He usually writes about what he thinks he knows about the struggles of studying languages, surviving as a creative soul, and socializing as an extroverted introvert.